Prepare yourself for scanning. The Associated Press reports that MLB has instructed its teams to plan to have metal detector screening – either the walk-through kind, or the hand-held kind – in place by the start of the 2015 season. The mandates emanates from MLB’s work with the Department of Homeland security to standardize the protections in place for fans at the ballpark. From a purely personal perspective, I say: “whatever.” I’m never going to bring anything unlawful to a ballpark, and when I’m going somewhere that I’ll be surrounded by tens of thousands of people I don’t know, a little extra security isn’t going to bother me. That said, it’s kind of sad that this is a reality. I don’t know if that’s a criticism of the decision, or a commentary on where we are as a society. But I’m sure that it’s sad.

Patrick Mooney writes about the Masahiro Tanaka pursuit as laid against the Anibal Sanchez context (read it, if you can stomach it). Loved this quote that Mooney got from Theo Epstein, summing up the nature of free agency right now: “There was tremendous financial escalation in the marketplace this year. And when you are in a position to acquire those household names, usually it’s long contracts with very significant dollars and clubs are really hoping for a pay-off in the first few years of the contract. Teams that are right on the cusp of playoff contention [look at] the two- or three- or four-win impact that player might make. [And] sometimes those wins mean even more to that team that’s right on the cusp. So you’re competing against teams that have maybe more payroll flexibility and with a more immediate need for impact.” Epstein says a bit more, which is worth a look. The upshot, though, is something we’ve said around here for a while: when teams sign 30-plus-year-old free agents to nine figure contracts, they’re hoping to recoup most of that value within the first few years of the deal. Given the Cubs’ situation, many of the biggest deals this offseason wouldn’t have made sense in that context. Yes, I still believe in the “you have to sign them when they’re available” mantra, but you also have to consider the reality of aging curves. (And I still really like the starting pitching market next offseason …. )

Get In Touch

Site Archives

Site Archives

Disclaimer

In addition to news, Bleacher Nation publishes both rumor and opinion, as well as information reported by other sources. Information on Bleacher Nation may contain errors or inaccuracies, though we try to avoid them. Links to content and the quotation of material from other news sources are not the responsibility of Bleacher Nation. Photos used are the property of Bleacher Nation, are used with permission, are fair use, or are believed to be in the public domain. Legitimate requests to remove copyrighted photos not in the public domain will be honored promptly. Comments by third parties are neither sponsored or endorsed by Bleacher Nation.

Bleacher Nation Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Bleacher Nation is a private media site, and it is not affiliated in any way with Major League Baseball or the Chicago Cubs. Neither MLB nor the Chicago Cubs have endorsed, supported, directed, or participated in the creation of the content at this site, or in the creation of the site itself. It's just a media site that happens to cover the Chicago Cubs.

Bleacher Nation is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.